Teacher quality focus of next Race to the Top

From the Associated Press: Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Wednesday spelled out details of a proposed new $5 billion Race to the Top-style competition focused on improving teacher quality.Among the changes the administration is seeking: higher teaching salaries, compensation tied to performance and more selective and improved teaching colleges.

The proposed contest was included in the budget proposal President Barack Obama sent to Congress on Monday. It will probably face obstacles in the gridlocked Congress, where some Republicans have complained of federal overreach and overlapping programs in education.

Race to the Top, Obama's signature education initiative, already has awarded more than $5 billion in competitive grants to states willing to enact certain changes favored by the administration.

A growing body of research shows the big difference that effective teachers can play in student lives, from reducing teenage pregnancies to increasing a student's lifetime earnings. Duncan frequently notes during speeches that within the next decade, about a million baby boomer teachers will retire and quality teachers are needed to fill those spots. Yet, a report from the McKinsey & Co. global consulting firm found that only about a quarter of new teachers come from the top third of their class and said prestige and peer group appeal, along with compensation, were factors influencing whether top college students enter teaching.

The proposed competition would focus on both improving the quality of the existing teaching force and on better training and recruitment of future teachers. Already, some states are enacting some of the changes the Education Department wants, such as awarding tenure based on teacher performance, instead of primarily on seniority.

Along with the proposed contest, Duncan announced what the Education Department called the RESPECT Project, which stands for Recognizing Educational Success, Professional Excellence and Collaborative Teaching. Through it, it says it wants to work with teachers, schools, districts, unions and education organization to spark a national discussion about improving teaching.

"Our goal is to work with educators in rebuilding their profession, and to elevate the teacher voice in shaping federal, state and local education policy," Duncan said.

Jennifer Allen, a spokeswoman for Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, said in an email that Republicans support competition in education but also efficient use of taxpayer funds. Citing a Government Accountability Office report from last year that found 82 existing teacher quality programs administered by 10 federal agencies, she said that instead of creating another new program, a bill sponsored by Kline would consolidate many of the programs into a flexible grant states and districts could use to recruit and retain good teachers.

Dennis Van Roekel, the president of the National Education Association, said he supports the administration's proposal and appreciates that it recognizes that salaries in teaching need to be competitive with other sectors.

"We always worry about the details and how we implement this and that's really important, and we want to work with them on that," he said.

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Gradebook features education articles and insights on schools in Florida, focusing on Tampa Bay area schools. What's the latest from the Florida Department of Education? How is the FCAT being used to compare Florida schools? What's going on in Tampa Bay schools? Get an insider's view from the Times education reporting team.